More on Education and Opportunity

A medley of folks streamed into Confluence Park on San Antonio’s South Side Sunday: yoga pants-wearing women sat cross-legged at a pavilion, father and son tossed a baseball around, and men toting fishing rods went in search of their big catch.

But missing from the scene outdoors was a classroom of school children taking free hacking lessons from some of the U.S. military’s most skilled cyberwarriors.

A San Antonio-area congressman is warning oil and natural gas companies about threats from Russian hackers.

U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-Helotes, a former CIA agent, believes the success of the shale revolution in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas and the Permian Basin in West Texas has made oil and natural gas companies a target.

“Artificial intelligence is a technology that transcends borders,” Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) said during a House hearing on the technology earlier this year. “We have allies and adversaries -- both nation-states and individual hackers -- who are pursuing artificial intelligence with all they have because dominance in artificial intelligence is a guaranteed leg up in the realm of geopolitics and economics.”

The lead sponsor of the Modernizing Government Technology Act expressed confidence that congressional appropriators will eventually replenish a revolving fund for IT modernization, but unresolved issues regarding transparency need to be addressed.

Senate appropriators zeroed out a line item contained in the fiscal year 2018 omnibus spending package. The House General Government appropriation bill pays into the Technology Modernization Fund to the tune of $150 million -- the same funding level passed for 2018.

A Texas congressman warned of the growing threat quantum computing presents if competitors such as Russia or China achieve the technological feat first.

Speaking July 20 at the Aspen Security Forum in Aspen, Colorado, Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, said “whoever gets to true quantum computing first will be able to negate all the encryption that we’ve ever done to date. That is why China, that is why Russia is sucking up ciphertext.”

Policymakers and technology experts said without a broad national strategy for driving artificial intelligence forward, the U.S. risks letting global competitors direct the growth of the budding industry.

When I was in grade school, at least one teacher always had a sign in the classroom that said “reading is fundamental.” This is as true now as it was then. Learning how to read is a fundamental skill that can determine the course of one’s life. But you don’t have to take my word for it – the statistics speak for themselves.

Potential legislation being conceptualized by a local congressman and his colleagues would create a new Cyber National Guard and could position San Antonio as a hub for the program.

For the past year, U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-Helotes, who represents Texas' 23rd Congressional District, has been working on a bill – not yet filed – with Reps. Robin Kelly of Illinois and Ruben Gallego of Arizona, both Democrats.

When you hear the phrase “national security,” what comes to mind? The goals of protecting our homeland from intruders, cultivating a strong military and encouraging thoughtful foreign policy certainly are important pieces of the puzzle. However, ensuring a quality education for today’s students is also a vital component. Americans simply cannot be protected for generations to come without a well-educated workforce. That’s why in Congress I strive to be an advocate for educational opportunities for our South and West Texas students.